


soft

by graveExcitement (arachnids)



Category: Hiveswap, Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Huddling For Warmth, human/non-human - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-15 09:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13610106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arachnids/pseuds/graveExcitement
Summary: Xefros marvels at how amazingly soft Joey is.





	soft

**Author's Note:**

  * For [raininshadows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raininshadows/gifts).



> rain, your prompts for this pairing really struck me - i enjoyed writing this, and i hope you enjoy reading it!
> 
> (thanks to rosefox to the beta!)

Joey is… soft.

Xefros finds this to be true in a physical sense - her skin is smooth, and wiggler-soft, compared to his own, rough and scarred. But he means it figuratively as well. Joey… _cares_ , so _much_ , and she’s not afraid to show it. She’s the most open person he’s ever met.

Of course, she is an alien, so it makes sense that she’s like no one he’s ever met before. Xefros doesn’t know what to believe - whether Joey’s planet is full of incredibly soft aliens like her, or she’s unique no matter which planet you’re standing on.

Xefros shivers and inches towards the dying embers of their fire. They’re holed up in a cave for the day, and Joey had been smart enough to find a place in the cave that opened up above them, so that they could build a fire without worrying about the smoke. And it had been great, but he woke up several hours later, chilled to the bone. Now he stares into the glowing embers, trying to distract himself from the cold enough to fall back asleep. By thinking about Joey.

There was her treatment of Tetrarch Dammek’s lusus, for one thing. She’d only known the lusus, which she called a “deercat,” for a few days, but she worried over it constantly, and would have them dismount if she thought the burden of their weight was too strenuous for it. No troll he's ever met would be so concerned for a lusus they hardly knew.

And that wasn’t even mentioning how she treated Xefros himself.

“You awake?”

Xefros jerks in surprise, startled out of his train of thought. “Yeah,” he admits. He sits up and looks over at Joey. She’s shivering too.

“It’s been getting colder the last few days,” Joey says. “How much longer until we get to your friend’s place? Because I didn’t exactly bring winter wear.”

He’s never been this far north before; the cold climate is a shock to him, too. “It’s… probably just another day or two?” Xefros ventures. Aware that this answer is surely inadequate, he adds, “Sorry.”

“There’s no need to be sorry,” she says, and Xefros winces; Joey has _opinions_ on how often he apologizes, he knows that. It’s hard to break the habit, though, when he’s all but useless as a travelling companion, as a revolutionary, as -

“Are you beating yourself up in your head again?” Joey asks, suspicious.

He stares at the ground. “Sorry.”

She makes a frustrated noise, but doesn’t speak further. Xefros shivers; he dearly wishes they could rebuild the fire, but that would require getting more fuel to burn, and they can't do that without going out into the daylight. Most of all he longs for sopor slime, so that he could just sleep and stop feeling so cold.

“Okay, this is silly,” Joey announces.

He blinks. “W-what is?”

“We’re both shivering when we should be trying to conserve warmth,” she says matter-of-factly. “We should take advantage of our body heat to keep each other warm.”

“You mean…” He trails off. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I mean, I get nightmares, because there’s no sopor here, so I’d probably just kick you in my sleep. And, um, wouldn’t it be kind of…?”

“I’d rather be kicked than freeze,” Joey says.

“It’s not… _that_ cold,” he stammers. “Not enough to be dangerous… or, wait, you’re an alien… Are you more sensitive to cold?” Would the cold kill her? His heart feels like it’s leapt into his throat. “Sorry, I didn’t think - I mean -”

“Shhh,” says Joey, and Xefros’s heart flips at the conciliatory sound. Not that Joey would know, of course; she’s made it quite clear that she doesn’t comprehend quadrants.

Still, what Joey’s suggesting… huddling together - cuddling - even for survival, that’s the realm of the pale quadrant… or the flushed one. And when it comes to Joey, Xefros finds his thoughts inevitably wandering to the latter.

“Just… come over here, okay?” Joey asks. Xefros does as he is bid, heart in his throat; Joey leads him further back in the cave, to where the lusus comfortably sleeps. Joey tucks herself in next to the lusus, then looks at him beseechingly. Flustered, he gingerly lowers himself to the ground and curls up next to Joey.

And then she wraps her arms around Xefros, and his heart skips a beat. _Is this… really happening?_ he thought to himself. The warmth of her body pressed against his is a relief from the cold cave air, but instead of sleeping he can only lie there in wonder, exulting in the feeling of her soft, soft skin, her warm arms draped across his body.

He’s never felt anything like this before.

He stays awake for as long as he can, relishing the sensation of Joey, so soft, so close, but eventually his eyelids slip closed. He doesn’t dream.


End file.
